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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. I. B HERZOG.

- ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

No. 314,292. Patented Mar. 24, 1885.

DIRECTIONS %/%4, as 45w w y-O W (No Model.) 7 2 SheetsSheet 2.

F. B HERZOG.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS. v

No. 314,292. Patented Mar 24,1885.

N. PETERS. Phalo-Ulhogflpher. Wuhinglnn. Dv c U ITED STATES PATENT @EEIQE.

r. BENEDICT HERZOG, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

ELECTRIC SiGNALING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 314,292, dated March 24, 1885.

Application filed December I, 1884.

(X0 model II "mnydiflerent usessuch as telephone-exchange service, district telegraph and private circuits, hotel annunciators, &c.-the main feature of which is that the transmitter may be properly set by aperson desiring to signal to a distant point, and is so constructed that the desired signal is not transmitted at the moment of setting the instrument, (as is the case in instruments of the kind known as transmittersf) but the apparatus retains the signal as set in a latent condition. ready to bereleased, until it is released, directly or indirectly, from a distant station by the person who is to receive the signal at the moment he wishes to release it and is ready for it, and then the instrument being released, the signal it is set to transmit is automatically transmitted to such receiving operator. These instruments, as there described, are capable of being set so as to transmit only one and two alterable signals or series of signals, and enable the sender to convey to the receiver any desired information (within this limit of two series.)

The object of my present invention is to provide such a latentsignal transmitter so constructed as to have a greater capacity to transmit signals for many uses to which it is applicable, more especially for use in telephoneexchanges, so that it canbe readily set by any unskilled person to transmit various combinations of impulses or signals to enable the sender to transmit numbers containing units, tens, and hundreds, for example, and which shall bereliable in its operation and very simple and cheap in construction. In its use in telephone-exchanges it serves two purposes. The first is, it is particularly intended to enable the telephone subscriber before leaving his office to set the apparatus so that a calling subscriber may be automatically informed, not only of the hour and minute of his in tended return, or of a number representing U in a code the place to which he has gone, (as described in Patent No. 289,834,) but may be informed at the same time of both of these sets of information, which would not be done by the former instrument described in the patent referred. to. The second purpose for which instruments of greater capacity, as herein described, are to be used, is to enable subscribers to indicate by the instrument the number of another subscriber with whom they wish to speak, and having set it at this number to have it remain as set until it is released by the central operator, when it will transmit the desired signal without any further need of oral communication between calling subscriber and operator.

In this application I mean to claim. broad- 1y, such a latentsignal transmitter of greater capacity, as hereinafter described. I describe in application Serial No. 144,194, filed September 29, 1884, another form, which I there claim as a modification only.

I shall explain the best form of my invention, with refereneeto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view of my transmitterbox. Fig. 2 is a front view of its internal mechanism, showing the front of the box re moved; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the middle of the box,showing a side view of the transmitter mechanism.

The transmitter-box consists simply of a square or otherwise shaped box large enough to contain the transmitter, and made of wood or metal, but the front or face of the box,

should be metal. I have shown the face and sides made in one casting, with the back in a separate piece, to which the transmitter is 95 The mechanism of the transmitter I con-' screwed.

[drives the escapement H, this clock-work being mounted in a frame formed of a front, I, and back plate, J, this part of the mechanism through which 18 cut a semicircular slot,

being old and in very common use. The clockwork escapement I control by means of an electro-magnet, L, whose armature N is pivoted in the frame of the instrument and carries a finger, a, which, when the armature is back, interferes with the escapement-pendulum K and locks it, this construction being fully described in an application filed by me in the Patent- Otlice September 29, 1881. Directly in front of the front plate, I, is a revolving arm, M, attached to the arbor D, and carrying at its free end a contact spring orbrush, m, which. sweeps over the periphery of the concentric metal sector P, rigidly fixed. to but insulated from the frame by rubber-bushed screws, as shown, so as to leave sufficient space between it and the front plate for the arm to sweep over the entire teeth of the sector. On the arbor D are centered three arms, Q, R, and S, so as to turn freely, and at the end of each arm is formed a circular are, numbered as shown, and provided with knobs, A, B, and O, by which the arms may be set as required. The arbor D projects through the face of the box, and has attached to it the crank d, by which the spring is wound up and the instrument set, ready to transmit its signal, as shown in the drawings. The arm Q is placed in front, the arm R behind it, and the arm S immediately behind the arm E. On the rear side of the arms Q and R are fixed blocks q and r of insulating material, which project slightly above the face of theteeth directlyin the path of contactspring 712, so that when the contact-spring reaches one of the arms the brush is held off the periphery of the sector P, traveling over the space of two teeth, and consequently at that instant two impulses in the signal are omitted. The third arm, S, carries a finger, 3, against which strikes the pin 0 in the end of the traveling arm M, so that the arm M is stopped when it fetches up against the arm S, wherever that may be set. The arms Q and R each carry a little index or pointer, which points to the numbers marked on the next are immediately behind it, and a third pointer, 75, pointing to the numbers on the first are, is attached to the front of the box. Suppose, now, it is desired to have the boX transmit the signal 270, for example. The clock-work is first wound up by turning the crank d, which sets the arm M, carrying the contact-spring,in the position shown, ready to transmit a signal. The knob A is then set so that the pointer 25 points at 2 on the first are, and the armQ occupies the position shown. The knob B is then set so that the pointer carrled by the arm Q points to 7, and the arm R is in position shown. The knob O is then set so that the point r carried by the arm R points to 10, and the arm S is in the position shown. VVhen, now, the instrument is released by means of the electro-magnet L, the brush m, carried by the arm M, sweeps over the face of the teeth, first making two breaks in the circuit, followed by an interval equal to two breaks; then seven more breaks, followed by another interval equal to two breaks 5 and finally ten more breaks, when the traveling arm M fetches up'against the finmatically any desired signal composed of three figures or less. If it is desired to have thein strument capable of transmitting more figures than this, other arms precisely like B may be added to any desired number, and the capacity of the instrument indefinitely increased. If it is desired to transmit only a single number up to twelve, the first are may be employed alone, in which case the other arms, R and S, would be moved (lose up to the arm Q, so that the interval-blocks g and 0' would be in contact, and the brush m, after having sent the desired number of impulses, would travel over these blocks in succession, and be stopped by the finger s as soon as it has left the block r, and again close the circuit through one of the teeth of the sector.

In order that the arms may remain locked when set in any position, each arm is n1ade springy, so as to be capable of being bent slightly inward by pressing on theknobs, and is provided with a lug, V, which springs into the notches cut in the metal are X, which is..-

a circular strip of metal attached to or cast on the inside of the box-front. As the arms are in different planes the lugsVare made correspondingly deeper on the rear arms, so that their front edges, which engage with the notched arc, are all in the same plane. There are as many notches in the are as there are teeth on the sector P, one notch corresponding to each tooth, and they are so arranged that the lugs V drop into them when the in terval-blocks q and '2- cover exactlytwo teeth, and the finger s on the third arm, S, stands so as to stop the traveling arm M with its spring on onone of the teeth. I,

In setting the instrument the arm Q is first set by pressing in the knob A, which slightly bends the arm and frees the lug V from the teeth, and as this arm rests in front of the other two it also pushesinward the others and unlocks them, so that the arm Q can be set as desired, and will carry with it the other arms if they happen to be set close up to it, and if not the arm Q may be set independently without moving the others. The second and third arms are then set one after the other in the same manner; but as the second arm lies behind the first and the third behind the sec ond, either of these may be unlocked and set without affecting the ones in front of it. In other words, any arm may be unlocked and .set without unlocking thosein front of it; but

itwill unlock all those behind it, and consequently it is only necessary to set first those in front.

I have shown the mechanism of the transmitter secured to the back of the transmitter- I transmit two or more alterable signals and box; but it may evidently be secured to the front, leaving space for the sweep of the setting-arms. between it and the front, and as the notched arc X is attached to this plate, and the lugs V engage withit, it might be desira ble to support the clock-work in this way, so as to have the entire mechanism rigidly fixed to the same base. During the transmission of the signahwhich is composed of breaks in the circuit, the armature N of the electroment and stop the clock-work, unless some device were provided to hold up the armature during the intervals of no magnetism. To accomplish this I mount upon the arbor D a semicircular sector, Y, on the periphery of which bears an arm, 3 fixed to the armature N. This sector is fixed to the arbor, so that when the instrument is set it allows the arm y and armature N to drop back and lock the escapement, as shown; but when the ar1nature is drawn up and the instrument released the revolving sector Y comes under the end of the arm 3 and thus supports the armature during the breaks in the circuit. Theinstrument therefore continues to run down when once released until the completion of the signal for which it is set.

To prevent the numbers from being visible on the face of the instrument after it has been set, I provide a flap or cover, U, which is hinged to the face, as shown, so as to drop down by gravity, or a spring, and cover the numbered arcs or dials, thus preventing any observer standing by from seeing what number the instrument has been set totrausmit.

I do not limit myself to the details of construction herein shown. These may be changed in various ways without departing from the feature of my invention, which is to construct a latent-signal transmitter to transmit three or more variable sets of signals.

It is manifest that any form of actuating mechanism or clock-work may be employed in my transmitter to drive the signal-sending device, and the electro-magnet may be arranged to control the movement of this device in any desired manner, whether with a closed or an open circuit. It is also evident that the dials, arcs, or indicating devices by which the instrument is set may be marked or graduated in any desired manner, and the sector P provided with an arrangement of teeth to correspond. It is also evident that, instead of a fixed sector and moving brush, the relative motion may be reversed, and instead of counting the makes the breaks in the circuit may be counted, the relative advantage of the two methods being determined by the charac ter of current and the exchange system used. It is also evident that the signal-t-ransmitting device may be modified in various ways without departing from my invention.

I am aware that Letters Patent to Kirchhof, No. 51,193, of November 28, 1865, describes a signal-transmitting instrument constructed to different combinations thereof, in which the signals are transmitted by a traveling arm car rying a contactspring which sweeps over the toothed periphery of a metal sector, and the signal and combinations are regulated by two adjustable stops which limit the sweep of the brush, and an adjustable contact-breaker or interval-maker, by which the impulses sent may be split up into any desired combinations, and also a setting-arm provided with a num bered sector; but I do not claim this construction.

My instrument may be placed in any circuit and used to transmit signals for any purpose. It may be employed in telephone-exchange systems, the subscriber setting it at any time to indicate the hour he expects to return or when he can be seen, and the instrument being released by the central office at the same time that the central office calls such subscriber, it

thus apprises the central office of these facts, as fully described in my hereinbefore-mentioned patent of December 11, 1883.

Another use is as follows: The subscriber can set his instrument to operate as a call and transmit to the exchange the number of the subscriber with whom he desires connection, in which case the subscriber will set his instrument and will signal to the central office that his instrument is set,- whereupon the operator will release it; but I do not claim this method in this application, but make it the subject of another application filed of even date herewith. To enable the subscriber thus to signal to the central oflice after setting his instrument without releasing the transmitter in so doing, I provide a manually or automatically operated cut-out or shunt, (shown in the drawings as K, Fig. 2;) but I do not claim this invention herein, but make it the subject of another application filed at even date herewith.

In this application by the term latent signal transmitter I mean an instrument of the general character hereinbefore referred to as having been patented by me on December 11, 1883, of course not limiting myself to any form thereof.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with an electric circuit, of a latent-signal transmitter for transmitting over the circuit three or more variable signals or sets of impulses, signal-determining devices whereby the automatic signaling mechanism can be set to transmit said signal in any desired sequence, a motor for actuating said signaling mechanism, and means for releasing said motor, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, in a latent-signal transmitter, of a traveling contact-maker, a motor, a number of contacts swept by said traveling contactmaker, and one or more adjustable interval-producing devices, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

'iio" 3. The combination, in a latent-signal transmitter, of a series of contacts and a contactmaker movable with respect to each other, and two or more interval-producers differently spaced from the series of contacts and adjustable with relation to each other, together with a motor, a detent therefor, and a locking device to prevent the detent from reobstructing the motor after it has once been started by the current, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

4. In combination with a latentsignal transmitter having a contactmaker and a series of contacts movable with respect to each other, two or more interval-producers and a limiting-stop, the interval-producers and the stop being adjustable with respect to one another, substantially as and for the purposes herein before set forth.

5. The combination, inalatentsignal transmitter, of a signal-transmitting mechanism and two or more signal limiting and controlling devices, substantially as described, wh era by the entire signal transmitted is divided up into three or more groups of impulses or sig nals,substantially as and for the purposes here inbefore set forth.

6. The combination, in alatent-signal transmitter, of a fixed toothed transmitting-plate, a contact -brush driven by the motor and sweeping the transmitter, two or more interval-producers, means for setting the intervalproducers with respect to one another, and indicators to indicate how the signal is set, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

7. The combination of the arbor D, driven by the clock-work, the electro-magnet whose armature locks and releases the clock-work, the fixed sector 1?, traveling arm M, attached to the arbor D and carrying the contact-brush m, one or more arms, Q, provided with interval devices (1 and carrying numbered or marked arcs or dials, and the arm S, conmarked arcs or dials, and the arm S, con structed to limit the movement of the arm H, and the arm or crank d,attached to the arbor D, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with the arbor D and clock-work driving the same, of the metal sector P, fixed to the frame, the traveling arm M, attached to the arbor D and carrying the contact-brush m, the arm or crank d, attached to the arbor D, one or more arms, Q. provided with interval devices (1 and carrying numbered or marked arcs or dials, the arm S, also provided with a dial and constructed to limit the movement of the arm M, asuitable frame, and means for exposing the dials or arcs, substantially as described.

10. The combination, with the arbor D and clock-work driving the same, of the metal sector P,fixed to the frame, the traveling arm M, attached to the arbor D and carrying the contact-brush m, the arm or crank d,attached to the arbor, one or more arms, Q, carrying interval blocks q and numbered or marked arcs or dials, the arm S, also provided with a dial and constructed to limit the movement of the arm M, locking devices for the arms, and the box inclosing the mechanism provided with an opening exposingthe dials, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with a latent-transmitter box and dials or indicators. according to which the instrument can be set to transmit different signals, of a cover or flap for the indicators, so as normally to hide the signals from view, substantially as described.

12. The combination, with a transmitterbox *and dials or indicators by which the in strument can be set to transmit different signals, of the cover or flap V of the box, so arranged as automaticallyto hide the dials exposed to view after the signal has been set, substantially as described.

13. In a latent-signal transmitter,the combination, with a motor and a releasing device,of a signal-determining device and an independently-operative starting lever or pull, substantially as described.

F. BENEDICT HERZOG.

Witnesses:

OHARLEs G. CURTIS, JOHN M. TIERNEY. 

